Fewer speeding tickets written in Yakima

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YAKIMA, Wash. -- Leaving your house early might not be such a bad idea. It could help you avoid being late or getting slapped with a speeding ticket.

It wasn’t uncommon for Shawna Hahn to see speeders in Yakima. She said she saw them every day.

"I own a business in Terrace Heights and they race up and down all the time and downtown as well," said Shawna.

Shawna said YPD does a good job catching them but need help.

"I just don't think they have enough people, but that's not their fault,” said Shawna. “They're doing the best with that they have."

YPD has four officers assigned to traffic. They were short one traffic officer in the beginning of the year which affected the number of speeding tickets. YPD has written 500 fewer tickets in 2012 compared to the prior year. There were 1,450 written last year. That's down from nearly 2,000 in 2011.

16th Avenue and River Road is just one of the few hot spots where YPD wrote the most speeding tickets this year. Speeding tickets can cost anywhere from 90 to 500 dollars."

So where should you be sure to slow down? Police told KIMA a popular spot for speeders was at Englewood and 40th Avenues, which wasn’t a surprise to folks like Jim Elliot.

"I see a lot of speeders,” said Jim. “A lot of people getting pulled over and now I don't see as much."

Jim credited the police for catching speeders and said tickets were making more people slow down.

"People are being more cautious,” said Jim. “I'm seeing a lot more of that."

With fewer speeding tickets written over the past few years, this meant the police department was losing thousands of dollars.

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This magnetic storm is HUGE, and still going. Has reach KP 8 today. Would have stayed later to keep filming, but the clouds moved in. Let's hope it persists into the evening tonight also for more pictures.